Hampshire Police Superintendent Paul Bartolomeo said: "We don’t want to be killjoys but some of these incidents have been extremely frightening for those involved.

"We would ask people to think about the impact of their actions. What to them is a harmless prank, could be an intimidating and threatening experience to others, especially young children and vulnerable people.

"Also, by taking part in this craze, people could find themselves in a situation which leads to a public order incident. They could be arrested and ultimately end up with a criminal record.

"These incidents are also taking up valuable police time and resources, and will ultimately have an impact on other calls coming into the control room and officers attending other incidents."